David H. Wegman, Work Environment

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Research Interest

Epidemiologic studies of occupational respiratory disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and cancer; public health and policy issues concerning hazard and health surveillance, methods of exposure assessment for epidemiologic studies, the development of alternatives to regulation and the use of participatory methods to study occupational health risks; health and safety risks among construction workers; relationship of work risks and age both among child laborers and older adults.

Educational Background

B.A., History, Swarthmore College, 1962

M.D., Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 1966

M.Sc., Occupational Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 1972

Biosketch

David H. Wegman was named Emeritus Professor of Work Environment in 2009 after serving a five-year term as Dean of the School of Health and Environment. Prior to serving as dean he was the founding Chair of the Department of Work Environment, which was established in 1987. He also serves as Adjunct Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College and his M.D. and M.Sc. from Harvard University and is Board Certified in Preventive Medicine (Occupational Medicine). Previously he served as Director of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Health at the UCLA School of Public Health and on the faculty at Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Wegman has focused his research on epidemiologic studies of occupational respiratory disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and cancer and has published over 200 articles in the scientific literature. He has also written on public health and policy issues concerning hazard and health surveillance, methods of exposure assessment for epidemiologic studies, the development of alternatives to regulation and the use of participatory methods to study occupational health risks. He is co-editor with Dr. Barry Levy of one of the standard textbooks in the field of occupational health, Occupational Health: Recognition and Prevention of Work-Related Disease, the sixth edition of which will be published by Oxford University Press in 2010. His recent work focused on the examination of health and safety risks among construction workers involved in the building of the Third Harbor Tunnel and the underground Central Artery in Boston, and the study of the relationship of work risks and age both among child laborers and older adults. Dr. Wegman served as Treasurer of the International Epidemiological Association and as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Commission on Occupational Health and past Chair of its Scientific Committee on Epidemiology in Occupational Health. He has been an active participant in a number of National Academy of Science expert panels and was appointed as member of the Standing Committee on Human-Systems Integration in 2010. Currently he serves as Chair of the NRC Committees on Human Factors in Home Health Care and on the Review of the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research Portfolio and Outcomes. He previously has served as Chair of the NRC-IOM Committee on Review of NIOSH Research Programs, the NRC-IOM Committees on Health and Safety Needs of Older Workers, and the Health and Safety Consequences of Child Labor. He has been a member of the NRC-IOM Committee to Review the NIOSH Respiratory Disease Program, the Committee on Musculoskeletal Disorders and Work, the IOM Committees to Review the Health Consequences of Service During the Persian Gulf War and to Review Gender Differences in Susceptibility to Environmental Factors.

Dr. Wegman's government service has included Chair of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's Advisory Committee on the Elimination of Pneumoconiosis Among Coal Mine Workers, member of the OSHA Standards Advisory Committee on Metal Working Fluids, consultant to the Director of NIOSH on the agency extramural research program and on research concerning aging and work. He has also served on the National Toxicology Program’s Board of Scientific Counselors, the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors and the EPA Scientific Advisory Board. He serves as Chair of the Epidemiology Review Board for DuPont Corporation, and was past chair of the Occupational Health Advisory Board for the United Auto Workers and the General Motors Corporation. Dr. Wegman is an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, a member of the Editorial Boards of the Epidemiology Monitor, the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Environmental Health (online) and New Solutions.